edamame1

The insanity of my academic life as of late has prevented me from taking the time to document my culinary creations, but last night’s dinner was so tasty and simple that I had to post it.  

I must give credit for this dish to Kelly Jae’s Cafe, a new tapas restaurant in my hometown of Goshen, IN.  Living in Boston has spoiled me a bit in terms of ready access to vegan fare, and whenever I go back to Indiana I’m always having to ask bewildered waitstaff to make multiple modifications to my order (e.g., “Yes, I’ll have the chicken quesadilla salad, but no chicken.  And also no cheese.  Oh, and no Mexi-Ranch dressing, either.  Can I just have extra salsa instead?  And maybe some extra black beans?”).  On my recent trek back to my native land I was delighted to discover that there is now a restaurant in Goshen (actually, in Indiana) that is very vegan-friendly.  Kelly Jae’s offers multiple dishes that are already vegan and plenty more that can easily be made vegan.  

Edamame is the Japanese word for soybeans, which are a great source of protein.  Soybeans are native to Asia and soy products are a common feature in many Asian diets.  Soybeans are now grown everywhere in the U.S. — a development that began during the Great Depression when soy was used to regenerate the drought-stricken soil of the “Dust Bowl”  (soy has nitrogen-fixing properties).  In addition to the infinite selection of soy-based food products, soy also has many industrial uses, everything from textiles to paints, plastics, and fuels.  Henry Ford played a major role in advancing in the U.S. soybean industry: at one point, soy was used in the production of all Ford cars, and Ford himself was known to wear a suit made entirely out of soy.  Soy is the U.S.’s biggest agricultural export today, but most of the soy actually consumed in America goes to livestock feed.  Luckily, we are now seeing an increase in the use of soy products as people catch on to the many health benefits and versatility of soy. 

Kelly Jae’s menu called this dish “pan-seared edamame,” which sounds a lot more exotic than plain old “sauteed edamame.”  But I’m not sure I actually “seared” the beans because searing is supposed to take place very fast over very high heat, whereas I cooked mine at a medium high heat for about 10-15 minutes.  I think searing is most commonly employed as a technique for cooking meat, but this all goes to show how much I have to learn about cooking!   I also added a little bit of red bell pepper to mine just for a vegetable boost.

At any rate, this will serve about 2-4, depending on whether you serve it as a main dish or a side dish.  You can buy frozen shelled edamame in most grocery stores. 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups frozen shelled edamame (I didn’t bother thawing mine — just threw them right into the pan)
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced 
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped finely (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

To make:

1.  Heat the oil over medium high heat.  Saute the shallots, stirring frequently, until they begin to turn brown and caramelize (probably about five minutes or so).  Add in the garlic and saute for a minute more.

2.  Throw in the edamame and saute, stirring frequently, until they start to brown little. I threw the red bell pepper in closer to the end of this process so that it remained a little crisp. This process took about 10 minutes for me. 

3. Salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!